DIY Paper Weaving for Easy, Modern Art

Welcome to our very first DIY on Freshome.

Today we’re going to do a bit of weaving. Recently, woven crafts have become a trendy way to decorate walls with colorful yarn and fabric designs in all colors and sizes. With a little practice and patience, they create stunning results.

I’ve done quite a bit of weaving myself. And while it’s simple and relaxing, it is also undeniably time-consuming and requires more materials than I have at the ready. It’s a wonderful hobby, but certainly not a quick DIY.

The DIY paper weaving artwork is a simpler alternative to its textile counterpart and calls for only common household items that I’m willing to bet you already have laying around.

For me, the hardest part of this DIY paper weaving is choosing the two pictures to weave together. Because I have too many magazines that need to be recycled, I actually used two pages from a Wallpaper magazine instead of printing my own photos. I also like the idea of taking two different pictures of homes and combining them — but that’s just me being a sap about home design.

Whatever images you select, you can embellish them further by additionally weaving in ribbons, colored paper, etc. Another idea would be to weave two different book pages together. Oh, the possibilities!

The second page will be diagonal, so measure 3cm marks this time along the top and right sides, then connect the dots to create the lines. On the diagonal page, you’ll want to stop your lines at the last centimeter of space on the left and top sides. This way, you won’t cut all of the way through.

Now, you’re ready to start combining the images. Take a vertical strip and weave it through the left side of the diagonal image. You’re simply going over and under to create a lattice pattern. Once you’ve finished the first strip, make sure it’s pushed all of the way to the left and that the top and bottom edges are flush.